Arts district in North Richmond sparks to life

Rob Fillo, executive director of the Richmond Arts Coalition, says this North Richmond neighbourhood is poised to become city’s new arts district.

Photo by Chung Chow

There’s a driveway-style dip in the sidewalk
directly in front of Rob Fillo’s stylish new North Richmond home in a
neighbourhood that’s just sprouting to life.

His spacious two-storey live/work studio
suite doesn’t boast a garage, but there is a warehouse-style roll-up door that
together with the driveway almost invites drivers to turn in.

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In essence, that’s what Fillo hopes people
will do (minus their cars of course) in the not-too-distant future: come in,
say hello, enjoy a cup of java while soaking in the sights and sounds at the
heart of Richmond’s new arts district.

Welcome to Concord Gardens, a multi-family
residential development on Sexsmith Road, north of Capstan Way, that includes
20 subsidized one- and two-bedroom lofts that range from 875 to 1,125 square
feet and rent for $837 per month.

Fillo, the executive director of the Richmond Arts Coalition, applied
for a unit many years ago, and on Oct. 19, he and his neighbours received the
keys to their new homes.

Fillo, flashing an ear-to-ear smile, credited
Richmond city council and local arts organizations for having the foresight to
champion this project so many years ago.

“It’s wild. It’s just fantastic. This is the
very beginning, and the catalyst to help bring arts to this area. In the future…I
see a real arts hub, so 10 years, 20 years down the road you could have
galleries, studio spaces, working spaces…an affordable performance venue.”

Fillo’s home couldn’t be better located. His
end-unit sits right next to what he believes will become a small park, and he
envisions offering song-writing classes and acoustic music showcases just
inside the front of his home as families walk by from the many nearby new
residential high-rises.

To be eligible for one of the subsidized
units, applicants must be professional artists who demonstrate a need, and fall
within an income range, he said.

While the studio units may lack privacy, the
extensive use of glass will help address what Fillo thinks is one of the most
important parts of arts: community engagement.

“You can paint all day long in a room, but if
no one’s seeing it, that could be lovely for you but you’re not really sharing
it with the world,” he said.

“So to have a space like this, where I can
even invite clients, where I could be teaching lessons, I could be painting
right in the front with the door open, and really invite the community to take
a peek in and look at art.”

There are endless possibilities for the
industrial-style spaces that also include a metal catwalk on the upper level
that leads from the bedroom space to the patio.

Former city councilor Linda Barnes, who is
the current chair of the Richmond Arts Coalition, was on council when they
voted for these buildings, he said.

“It’s kind of neat to see Richmond and the
municipal government getting behind the arts, and really developing the arts
and culture in Richmond.”

Concord Gardens ARTS (artist residential
tenancy studio) units are part of the City of Richmond’s affordable housing
strategy.

More subsidized artists studios are in the
plans for a development that is now taking shape just across the street from
Fillo’s home. The Pinnacle development will include 17 more artists live/work
studios.

“I’m a professional artist and song writing
isn’t paying my bills yet, and that’s 20 years into the game, so you have to be
a little bit nuts to be an artist in this kind of environment. “.

But Fillo’s drive come from the passion he
has for creating something from nothing, something beautiful.

“You can change the world with your art,” he
said. “To have a place like this is amazing.”

Being amongst like-minded people will only
enhance the creative process, he said. On paper, it will also foster stronger
connections and enable collaboration.

“It’s really special to have a group of
professional artists, who are hungry for an arts career in a town like Richmond
at the very spark of its arts revolution, if I can call it that,” he said.

“We’re kind of the unprecedented start of the
arts district. We haven’t had subsidized housing like this as far as I know in
Richmond ever before for artists specifically.”

In a world where artists are struggling to
buy food and pay rent, they can go into survival mode and this results, Fillo
says, in “alienation and segregation of artists that way.”

The new arts hub holds the promise of
changing that.

“What happens is (artists) have that extra
free time and you’re not in survival mode and you can afford to buy healthy food, the basics, which leads
to a more collaborative effort,” he said.

In his role as the executive director of the
arts coalition, Fillo said he’ll personally be well-positioned to become a “central
hub” for artists.

“Artists will know they can come to me if
they need any information like events around town, if they have a programming
feature they want to put on, I can always help and mentor and direct them
towards the right grants they need or the right people to speak to,” he said.

Fillo is hopeful green spaces will be
sprinkled throughout the neighbourhood, which will encourage people to come out
of their homes to take in the fresh air and socialize.

“People will sit at home and watch Netflix
but if you have an event it can be really hard to get people out.”